Headlines

August 2017

BOEING/ATR TO HELP CHINA AIRLINES WITH MRO

Boeing and China Airlines have signed an MoU to explore the development of the airline’s capabilities to serve the growing MRO market in Asia. Boeing anticipates providing technical support and maintenance training to China Airlines to enhance its ability to service Boeing products. In addition, Boeing intends to work closely with China Airlines to qualify it as an approved Boeing supplier, which will enable the airline to bid for work on Boeing’s wide-ranging products and services.

China Airlines will have the opportunity to become a qualified Boeing Global Fleet Care service provider in Asia. In addition, Boeing aims to aid China Airlines’ qualification as a potential Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) conversion site, as well as explore training opportunities to develop the airline’s capability as an airframe modification supplier for Boeing’s aircraft.

ATR will provide engineering and technical support to Taiwan’s China Airlines and its subsidiaries to set up in-house capabilities for ATR heavy maintenance up to C checks. This is part of a deal for six ATR 72-600s with Mandarin Airlines, a regional subsidiary of China Airlines.

DHL SUPPLY CHAIN TAKES CARE OF CATHAY DRAGON/ETIHAD MRO LOGISTICS

DHL Supply Chain has taken over management of all aircraft MRO logistics activities for Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon in the airlines’ home base at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) as part of a 10-year contract signed earlier this year.

The contract will see DHL Supply Chain take overall responsibility for the storage, warehousing and domestic transportation of 80,000 specific aviation part types, components and equipment used to maintain Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon’s combined fleet of 180 aircraft. It will also work with incumbent aircraft maintenance provider HAECO to provide additional services including parts inspection and airside operations.

A core team of 120 trained DHL Supply Chain specialists operate on a 24/7 basis, managing more than 8,360m² of warehousing space, processing one million units of spares transaction per annum, round-the-clock transport delivery, and reporting and governance procedures. Operations commenced after approval was obtained from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and nearly four months of intensive onboarding and training involving DHL Supply Chain, Cathay Pacific and HAECO.

DHL Supply Chain will begin introducing process improvements and will implement new supply chain systems within the initial phase of the contract.

This follows the signing of an LoI in June with Etihad Airways Engineering to manage stores, local transport movements and associated supply chain planning at its facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

The supply chain will be scalable in order to respond to MRO sector growth and will be able to adapt to future operational requirements. By introducing logistics planning and control, DHL brings robust processes to Etihad Airways Engineering’s supply chain to which aligned storage capacity planning and inventory policies comprise a major element. Response lead times will be reduced through efficient pick processes and performance indicators for every logistics and warehousing function. Apart from process optimisation, DHL will also introduce several changes in the layout of Etihad’s current warehouse, improving the space already available and setting up an external off-airport warehouse able to accommodate necessary inventory and part storage.